Railroad Socials, Virtual Socials, Hybrid Socials, Shop Talk: In March of 2018, we started gathering to “socialize”. We started with once a quarter, to talk trains. We gathered at libraries, then we moved to a restaurant event room. Folks have lunch, talk trains and enjoy various Clinics, Presentations, regional updates and seeing what folks bring to share. In 2020, due to Covid, we migrated the Socials from in-person at the restaurant, to virtual / online formats. We continued our regional railroad connection venture via online gatherings… instead of just shutting down. In June of 2021, went back to the restaurant and started “Hybrid Socials”, both in person and online. We bought extra hardware to bring remote folks in to the room and also interact, not just sit and watch a screen. This included 3 cameras and microphones, to connect folks at home to the room, still over the Zoom platform. We also ‘live streamed’ the event via YouTube. All this to give folks multiple ways to attend the Social ! Covid Notice: attend at your own risk. We follow government and facility requirements. If you live in South Texas and can not make the drive to a Social, contact us about attending virtually. SHOP TALK - in August of 2020, we started hosting a quarterly round-table gathering for folks to share what they are doing. To show projects, ask questions, talk railfanning, to intereact on train stuff. We go around the table (virtually) to talk about what we are doing. Everyone talks during Shop Talk. Watch a sample of the September 2020 Virtual Social via this YouTube video. This is a 10 minute sampling of the 2 hour event, to give an idea what folks saw. Click --> We also have a Facebook forum for folks in South Texas to connect as well. This is a forum for folks in the region to share there activities and chat, between Socials. Since Summer 2020, we have been gathering for something about every 45 days ! Our goal has always been to get folks in South Texas together to interact, to “socialize” …not provide another, one sided railroad based video to watch sitting at home. Can you give a mini Clinic, a short Presentation, a Rail-Fan summary or model layout tour ? If so, we need you! We can help you prepare too. Please email us and let’s talk. This works best when everyone helps. Show-n-Tell - remember to bring something We have a Show-n-Tell table to display your work, during the in-person Soclals. Railfanning pictures too. And models mounted on the layout, just email use pictures in share/show. Just send 3-6 good pictures and you can talk about them while we share them on the big screen. Do you live in South Texas and want to get on our email list, to receive reminders about the next Socials and Shop Talks? If so, click this icon and ask to be added to the list. We don’t send out junk mail or other general stuff. Include your full name, where you live and simply say to add you to the email list. Or manually send an email to… Info @ SouthTexasRR . Com